Rocpool

It was a struggle deciding which category to put Rocpool into. This hotel is as boutique as they come – there are only 11 rooms and the staff greet you personally each time you come and go giving you the impression of being a favoured house guest. There is also a great restaurant in the hotel run by Albert Roux. We had a very good meal there one evening and they serve a good Eggs Benedict for breakfast and some unfussy but tasty bar snacks in the classy bar and as a room service menu. However they also served me some unripe and crunchy nectarine for breakfast one morning and served radishes as canapés at our evening meal. Yes – just radishes. They were trimmed but as an amuse bouche they were sadly lacking in any form of excitement or innovation. However as some of the food was extremely good I have left Rocpool in the gastro section and you can be the judges of whether it deserves to stay there or not (comments please).

The decor is fairly minimal and features a lot of brown and beige. The emphasis is on comfort and elegance rather than glitz but it all hangs together well and the bar is stylish enough with a backlit bar and a sunken lounge section behind it. It is also home to a great barman who mixed a mean cocktail when we were there, but unfortunately we never got his name.

We stayed in a “Decadent” room which had a small entry lounge and a large bathroom with a gloriously enormous free standing bath by the window and a great shower as well. One nice touch is that there were fresh roses in our bathroom when we arrived. The staff are happy to bring you fresh milk at any time and there is a funky tea or coffee maker that will make fresh leaf tea at the push of a sachet (once I had worked out how to place said sachet which took a bit of fiddling!) Our room was so comfortable, and the weather so miserable that we had a few meals in it via room service which were well presented and generally tasty. Should you feel like splashing out the “Extra Decadent” rooms include a hot tub on your balcony overlooking Inverness. I can think of few finer places to sit and take in the view and perhaps drink some champagne while the sun goes down and the chilly evening settles in. Another time perhaps!

We also enjoyed one meal in Chez Roux which was very pleasant apart from the aforementioned radishes (which have left me traumatised for life!) Still – to focus on the positives – I had an amazing pike quenelle with lobster sauce as an entree. I don’t know what had been done to the fish but it had been creamed and reduced and then somehow reformed into a sort of mousse. The accompanying lobster sauce was heaven, of such a fishy, creamy glorious intensity that I had to try very hard not to lick the plate. My partner had a tasty Gruyere soufflé which left him with a happy smile on his face. We were yet to reach the quite literal peaks of the soufflés at Monachyle Mhor and Ardeonaig but it was nonetheless tasty.

After such a promising start it is disappointing to recount that the mains just didn’t begin to match up to the entrees in taste or creativity. I had some tasty but unexciting rabbit and my partner a perfectly reasonable braised beef but neither dish was exceptional or interesting. The dessert list didn’t excite us so we went for cheese instead which, thanks to the French influence, was very good and was matched with some tasty black rye crackers and some muscatels.

The service was a little erratic as well and we were abandoned at one point in favour of a larger table which left us feeling a little lost and unloved.

All in all Rocpool was a superb and comfortable hotel with friendly staff and some good food. It is worth noting that there is a Rocpool restaurant by the bridge in Inverness which is now no relation to the hotel, although it used to be a joint venture. I have had excellent food there and elsewhere in Inverness. We would recommend staying at Rocpool if you can and perhaps exploring further afield for tasty food on at least one of your nights in town. For a warm and comfortable sanctuary from the grim Highlands weather, Rocpool is hard to beat.